“The Hobbit” by JRR Tolkien is a novel in which a hobbit embarks on the greatest adventure of his life. The first phase of the monomyth, the departure, is reflected in the book when Bilbo Baggins (the hobbit of the story) goes on a quest to rid a mountain of a dragon called Smaug. Once the dragon is slain, the monomyth's return phase is in play as Bilbo returns home. Along the way, Baggins was both helped and hindered by different characters embodying the archetypes of the monomyth. Thus, “The Hobbit” by JRR Tolkien precisely follows the hero’s journey. Bilbo Baggins, as the hero of the story, goes through the beginning phase of the hero's journey exactly as established by Joseph Campbell. The hobbit's call to adventure is a sign on his door drawn by Gandalf. Gloin later tells Bilbo that the sign could be translated as: "...the burglar wants a good job, a lot of excitement and a reasonable reward..." The sign, which is Bilbo's call to adventure, means the first element of the start. After Gloin explains the nature of the sign, Thorin tells the Baggins the dwarves' purpose in coming to see the hobbit. As Thorin explained, Bilbo felt quite terrified about embarking on such a journey from which he might never return, as the book recounts: Poor Bilbo couldn't stand it any longer. At the moment he may never return, he began to feel a scream building up inside, and soon it erupted. Baggins was so afraid of such a journey that he had no doubt that he would refuse the call to adventure, which is the second component of departure. The third element of departure is that the hero, in this case Bilbo, finally accepts the call to adventure. In "The Hobbit", Bilbo was so enraged that Gloin called him a "little guy... middle of paper... Glar wants a good job." This act brings the dwarves to Bilbo's door, and thus the herald archetype is embodied by Gandalf. The archetypes of the monomyth are perfectly illustrated in “The Hobbit”. The monomyth is described exactly in “The Hobbit” by JRR Tolkien. The hero of the story goes through the departure phase, first refusing then accepting the call to adventure. Once the quest objective is achieved, the return phase is triggered and Bilbo returns home. He could not have completed his adventure without other characters, which is why the archetypes of the monomyth are present in the story. The little hobbit began his adventure as a frightened, almost cowardly being, but then gained wisdom and returned to his homeland transformed. Works Cited Tolkien, JRR The Hobbit. 5th ed. London, England: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1995. Print.